Propelling mechanism for vessels



1. WORCESTER. PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR VESSELS' APPLICATIONFI LED OCT. 1|, I920.

1,380,283. Patented M y31Q1921."

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

INVENTOR. @zneiwweszfw' way-22E; a a

ATTORNEY.

1. WORCESTER.

PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR VESSELS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. II. 1920.

1,380,283. Patented May 31,1921

2 SHEETS SIIEET 2.

'AT ORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE.

PROPELLING MECHANISM FOR VESSELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 31, 1921.

Application filed October 11, 1920. Serial No. 416,240.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES Nonons'rnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at WValtham, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and use: ful Improvement in Propelling Mechanism for Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to propelling mechanism for ships, and more particularly to certain improvements in propelling mechanisms of the oscillating type described in my prior Patent No. 1,280,932.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a propelling mechanism which is so constructed as to permit of a boat or vessel equipped therewith to be operated in channels of less depth than is possible with the propelling mechanism described in my previous patent above referred to, and further to so construct the propel-- ling mechanism that a greater length of blade can be used with the same expenditure of power. 7

Other important and minor objects of the invention will be morereadily understood from the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional view through the stern part of a vessel, showing mypropelling mechanism associated therewith.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the propeller frame, showing the manner of attaching same.

Fig. 3 is a detail view.

Fig. l is a perspective view of the propeller frame, and

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the walking beam and parts connected thereto.

Referring more particular y to the drawings, 5 designates the stern part of a vessel and 6 the skeg shoe thereof. This shoe is fitted with a cup bearing 7 in which is stepped the lower end of a tubular extension 8 formed integral with a casing 9. The casing 9 is also provided with an integral upper tubular extension 10 which passes upwardly into the vessel through the overhanging stern, being passed through suit able bearing plates 11 and 12. These plates also serve to prevent the entrance of water into the vessel and are specially constructed for this purpose.

The casing 9 with its tubular extensions serves as a rotatable support for the oscillating propeller frame designated by the numeral 13 and shown to better advantage in F 2 and 4. As herein shown, this frame comprises a pair of outer rearwardly converglng arms 1% and 15 which have the inner ends thereof bent to extend in parallelism and pivotally attached to the sides of the casing 9 by means of a pivot bolt 16 extending through said casing. Adjacent the forward nds thereof the arms 14 and 15 are connected by a transversely extending brace bar 17 formed integral therewith and from which extends a short intermediate arm 18. The arm 18 extends into the casing -9 between the side walls-thereof and is pivoted at its free end upon the bolt 16. Forwardly of the bar 17, the outer ends of the arms 14: and 15 are disposed in parallelism with one another and are forked as inclicated at 19 and 20 respectively.

21 designates a relatively thin flat propeller blade provided at its rear edge with a reduced extension 22 rolled upon itself to provide a tubular sleeve 23. A pivot rod 24 extends through'this sleeve and has its ends supported in lugs 25 extending outwardly fromthe brace bar 17. Nuts26 enga ed with the ends of this rod serve to hold the same in place, but of course any other equivalent fastening means may be substituted for this purpose.

8 The intermediate arm 18 of the propeller frame is fastened to a reciprocating shaft 27 by means of aconnecting rod 28. Said shaft 27 has a smooth sliding fit within the upper tubular extension 10 and is attached at its upper end to a link 29, which is in turn fastened to one end of a walking beam 80. The walking beam 30 is provided with a longitudinal slot 31 in which is slidably mounted a suitable pivot block carried by the adjustable fulcrum 32. The fulcrum 32 is slidaby mounted on a deck plate 38, one end of which plate is fastened to a part'of the vessel as indicated at 34:, and the opposite end of which is fastened to a guide 35 extending upwardly from a base plate 36. The guide is opposed by a second guide 36 also extending upwardly from said base plate and carrying a notched segment 37, to which is pivoted a lever 38, equipped with a pawl 39 engageable in the notches in said segment to hold the lever in adjusted position. A rod 40 extending between the lever 38 and the fulcrum 32 provides for the adjustment of the latter. The end of the lever 30 opposite that fastened to the link 29 is attached by means of a connecting rod 41 to the upper end of a slide 42, operating between the guides 35 and 37. The lower end of said slide is in turn attached by means of a connecting rod 43 to a crank pin 4A extending outwardly from a disk 15 fastened to a rotary power shaft a6 journaled in a bearing 47 carried by the base plate 36.

'To prevent longitudinal shifting of the beam 30, a pair of rods 47 are pivotally secured at one end to a standard extending upwardly from the deck plate 33 and have the opposite ends thereof pivotally secured to opposite sides of the beam 30 adjacent its point of connection to the connecting rod 41.

From the foregoing, it will be evident that reciprocation imparted to the slide 4L2 will be transmitted to the shaft 27, thus causing the propeller frame 13 and the propeller blade 21 carried thereby to oscillate vertically to propel the vessel ahead. Preferably, the angle of oscillation of the propeller frame is 75, while, that of the blade is 90. In any event, however, it is essential that the angle of oscillation of the frame should be less than that of the blade to prevent jarring. The angle of oscillation of the blade is, of course, fixed by reason of the forks 19 and 20, while that of the frame depends upon the throw of the walking beam which is variable by adjusting the position of the fulcrum 32- By adjusting the throw of the walking beam 30 through the medium of the fulcrum 32, the angle of oscillation of the propeller frame may be varied to shorten or lengthen the sweep of the propeller blade through the water. The advantage of this arrangement is that the sweep of the blade, may be slowly increased after the boat starts moving until its full towing power, or its full speed has been reached; and when the boat has been running at full speed, by shortening the sweep of the blade, the speed may be decreased to a crawling pace or the boat stopped by the pilot without notifying the engineer.

' To permit of the propeller being conveniently used for steering and reversing purposes, the tubular extension 10 has the upper portion thereof fitted with a worm wheel 48, which meshes with a worm 439 fixed on a shaft 50. The shaft 50 is journaled in suitable journal bearings 51, and is equipped with a pulley 52, over which a steering cable 53 is trained. When a pull is exerted on this cable, the shaft 50 and the extension 10 are rotated to swing the propeller frame in the circular path indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Owing to its connection to the frame 13, it is necessary that the lower part of the shaft 27 be free to revolve with the tubular extension 10, and in order to permit of this the said shaft is made in two sections 27 and 27 connected together with a swivel joint,

as indicated in Fig. 3. This joint, may of course be of any suitable construction, but in the present case, I have shown the lower section 27 provided with a socket in the upper end thereof in which is rotatably received an enlarged head carried by the lower end of the upper section 27*. The two sections are held against separation by means of a bushing 27 which is screwed into the upper end of the socket.

A collar 54 fastened to the tubular extension 10, is adapted to engage the plate 11 to prevent vertical movement of the propeller frame support.

lVith the horizontal type of propeller which I have disclosed herein no headway is required for steering purposes, as is necessary where a rudder is used for steering, and thus a vessel equipped with this propeller can be more safely docked in thick fogs or blinding snow storms. Furthermore, an important advantage possessed by the horizontal type of propeller herein disclosed over the vertical type disclosed in my prior patent previously referred to resides in the fact that in the horizontal type a much longer blade may be used without requiring additional power for driving the same, owing to the fact that in this type, the power is applied intermediate the length of the arms of the propeller frame and near the propeller blade, instead of close to the fulcrum as in the vertical type; To use a blade of equal length with the vertical type of propeller. it would be necessary to deepen the skeg, that is to say, to increase the distance between the skeg shoe and the overhanging stern of the vessel, and this, of course, could only be done on vessels intended for use in deep channels. whereas with the horizontal type of propeller, the length of blade can be readily increased without affecting the efiiciency of the propelling mechanism in shallow water.

I also wish it to be understood that I do that I reserve the right to resort to such modifications as may be desired providing that the same do not depart from the spirit or scope of the invention.

hat I claim is:

1. A propelling mechanism comprising a horizontally pivoted propeller frame, a propeller blade pivoted thereto, a rotary support to which said frame is pivoted, means for oscillating said frame, and means for rotating said support to swing the frame horizontally in the arc of a circle for steering and reversing purposes.

2. A propelling mechanism comprising a horizontally pivoted propeller frame, a horizontally disposed propeller blade pivoted thereto, means for oscillating said frame vertically and means for swinging the frame in the arc of a circle for steering and reversing purposes.

3. The combination with a horizontally pivoted propeller frame adapted to oscillate vertically and a horizontally disposed propeller blade pivoted thereto and also adapted to oscillate vertically, of a power shaft, and an adjustably fulcrumed walking beam actuated by the power shaft and operatively connected to the frame to impart oscillating movement thereto.

l. A propelling mechanism comprising a horizontally pivoted propeller frame adapted to oscillate vertically, a horizontally disposed propeller blade pivoted to said frame and also adapted to oscillate vertically, a power shaft, an adjustably fulcrumed walking beam actuated by said power shaft, and a reciprocating shaft actuated by said walking beam and operatively connected to said frame to impart oscillating movement thereto.

A propelling mechanism comprising a horizontally pivoted propeller frame adapted to oscillate vertically, a horizontally disposed propeller blade pivoted to said frame and also adapted to oscillate vertically, a rotary power shaft an adjustably fulcrumed walking eam actuated by said power shaft, a reciprocating propeller shaft, a connecting rod extending between one end of said reciprocating shaft and said walking beam,

I and a second connecting rod extending between the opposite end of said shaft and the propeller frame.

6. A propelling mechanism comprising a horizontally pivoted propeller frame, a horizontally disposed propeller blade pivoted thereto, a rotary power shaft, an adjustably fulcrumed walking beam operatively connected to said frame, and a connection between said power shaft and walking beam including a guideway, a slide operating in said guideway, and rods connecting said slide to said power shaft and walking beam respectively.

7. A propelling mechanism comprising a horizontally pivoted propeller frame, a horizontally disposed propeller blade pivoted thereto, means for oscillating said frame,

a rotary support to which said frame is pivoted, and means for rotating said support including a worm Wheel carried by the support, and an independently mounted worm meshing with said worm wheel, and means for actuating said worm.

8. The combination with a horizontally pivoted propeller frame having a horizontally disposed propeller blade pivoted thereto, of a rotary power shaft, and means for oscillating the propeller frame from the power shaft including a connection attached tosaid frame intermediate the fulcrum of the frame and the propeller blade carried thereby.

9. A propelling mechanism comprising a supporting member having upper and lower tubular extensions adapted to be rotatably mounted, a propeller frame including forked arms pivotally attached to opposite sides of said support and adapted to oscillate vertically relatively thereto, a propeller blade pivotally supported by said arms and adapted to oscillate in the forked portions thereof, means for oscillating said frame vertically, and means for rotating said support to swing the frame horizontally in the arc of a circle.

10. A propelling mechanism comprising a rotatable support having upper and lower tubular extensions adapted to be rotatably mounted, a vertically oscillating frame pivoted to said support intermediate the extensions thereof, a horizontally disposed propeller blade pivoted to said frame, a shaft slidably mounted in the upper tubular extension of the support and operatively connected to said propeller frame to impart oscillating movement thereto, and means for reciprocating said shaft.

11. A propelling mechanism comprising a vertically oscillatable propeller frame, a vertically oscillatable propeller blade carried by the frame, an adjustably fulcrumed walking beam operatively connected at one end to said frame, a reciprocating slide operatively connected to the opposite end of the walking beam, and means for reciprocating said slide.

12. An arrangement according to claim 13, in which the means for reciprocating the slide comprises a rotary power shaft, a crank pin carried thereby, and a connection between the crank pin and the slide.

13. The combination with an oscillatable propeller frame equipped with a swinging propeller blade, of an adjustably fulcrumed walking beam connected to the frame and operable to impart oscillating movement thereto, the fulcrum of the walking beam being adjustable to lengthen or shorten the sweep of the propeller blade.

14. A propelling mechanism comprising a rotatable support, a propeller frame including spaced arms pivotally secured to said support to adapt the frame for vertical oscillating movement, a swinging propeller blade carried by the frame, means for oscillating said frame connected thereto between the propeller blade and the pivot eon- Ileoting the arms of the frame to the support, and means for rotating said support to swing the frame and blade to steering and reversing positions.

15. A propelling mechanism for vessels comprising a-horizontalb pivoted propeller frame arranged to swing above and below the pivot point thereof, a horizontally pivoted propeller blade carried by said frame at the free end thereof, the angle of oscillation of the frame being less than that of the blade to prevent jarring, and means for oscillating said frame.

' JAMES \VORCESTER. 

